I came across a link to the Clean The World site today while reading another soapy blog (Great Cakes Soapworks), and immediately decided I needed to be a part of this program. They collect soap (from hotels, soapmakers, whoever can donate), re-batch the soap to make sure everything is sanitary, and send it off to impoverished countries all over the world and to homeless shelters here in the US. They explain on their website that simply having access to supplies to properly wash your hands can help kill germs and reduce the spread of illnesses, like acute respiratory infection and diarrhea, illnesses that people die of everyday. It seems like such a simple thing, to have access to soap to cleanse yourself and keep yourself healthy, and something that I clearly take for granted.

Here’s the big box of soap I packed up today to send off to Clean the World. It weighed in at about 15 pounds, and after I taped it up I found more to send. I’m planning to send a box once every few months, or whenever I’ve collected a bunch of unsellable soap. Most of these bars (and pieces of bars) where early test batches that I ended up changing in some way, so I won’t be selling them. Some of them have been sitting on my shelf for months, and now they have a place to go! I’m so excited I found this site and am happy I’m able to contribute to a great cause.